Raising awareness on wildlife protection and shark finning

Nature Trust (Malta) have announced that they recently took part in an event on Animal Awareness organised by Moviment Graffiti. The NGO has long been working on increasing appreciation towards all forms of widlife and to ensure their protection and conservation.

Amongst other educational activities, Nature Trust is currently working on a project to create a wildlife rescue centre to be able to treat injured animals such as marine turtles and is continuing with its campaign against dolphin captivity as part of the Cetacean Freedom Alliance (CETFREE).

Nature Trust (Malta) has also teamed up with Sharklab as members of the Shark Alliance to work together to educate the public on the plight of sharks. "We, as the consumer must make the right choices when buying fish. Take the blue fin tuna, this species is at a serious risk of extinction if unsustainable practices in the Mediterranean Sea are not stopped. The longlines used to catch tuna also catch sharks, some of which are also facing extinction."

"More than a third of the species of shark in the Mediterranean are faced with extinction. So when you go shopping, suggest to your food store or local fishmonger, to stop purchasing and reselling tuna and other endangered species of shark, until sustainable fishing management is put into place to help replenish the stocks," said Nature Trust (Malta). "One can also write to the Ministry and urge them to support a complete ban of shark finning and to urgently implement the community plan of action for sharks, which was released last February. Only then can these endangered species be allowed to recover," said Sharklab. Signatures are being collected to urge fisheries to completely ban shark finning in Europe.